if it was fun, we'd do it for free

what with the current financial crises, there has been a lot of discussion lately about how to increase productivity.

while driving home, the other night, i heard a person of talkback claiming that part of the problem was that young people didn't have the same passion for their jobs as he (as an employer) did. the more common attitude, he claimed, was that they were simply there for the money and that they didn't actually enjoy working.''

this seems to be borne out by an entertaining article i read in the herald

it is not surprising that a recent employment survey revealed that the thing that most upsets us at work is not poor pay or conditions, or even an absence of work-life balance. It is lazy co-workers.

Pay and rewards barely rate a mention, coming 32nd on the list of things making us most cranky at work.

first of all, people found thirty-one things to complain about their jobs before they got to pay and conditions? i'd really love to see the whole list. how long was the list any way?

the herald followed this up a forum post in its "your views" section. the replies did not suggest thaat lazy co-workers was the problem, so much as cluless managers, bitchy and bullying co-workers, lack of responsibity, clueless micromanagement (yes, i mentioned this twice), dress code. money was mentioned, but not as much as you would think.

one thing i agreed with was the tendency to use open plan offices. from the article:

To the extent that changes have been made to the office environment, they are overwhelmingly negative. A study this year reported that the current trend towards open-plan offices is proving to be a disaster. The study's author noted that "employees face a multitude of problems such as the loss of privacy, loss of identity, low work productivity, various health issues, overstimulation and low job satisfaction when working in an open plan environment".

The report noted 90 per cent of open-office workers reporting adverse health and psychological effects.

i work in an open plan office. there are ten of us on one side of the floor, but to encourage teamwork, we are cramed into one quarter of the floor. this makes things noisy (especially when you are on the phone) crowded and so on. personally, i would be more productive if there were less people around.

having said that, i like my job. its varied and interesting and by doing it, i can say that no matter how sick i am, i am still contributing.

but the final word on productivity came back to a call in reply to the earlier call as to why young people are only working for the money and don't feel the passion. i'll paraquote.

"i grew up in the eighties. my father had worked for the same firm for thirty years when the company restructed and may father was made redundant. i learned that the company does not reward loyalty. if the company is only in it to make money, then why should i be any different?

so how to increase productivity? well, study after study shows that the happier their employees are, the better a company does. this could be difficult given that:

a) everyone thinks that they work harder than any of their colleagues; and
2) everyone thinks that they are underpaid for what they do

but its the little things that can make a difference. checck your office policies. do they make sense, or do they just piss people off. do you really need so much management. what support do you receive.

i am performing pretty well, at present and a lot of that is the support i've received from my bosses since i found out about my list of illnesses. their willingness to cut me a break when i need it makes me feel obligated to not only match my pre-illness performance, but to, if possible beat it.

i still think i'm underpaid though